Zoning Board of Appeals

What is the Zoning Board of Appeals

The purpose of the Zoning Board of Appeals is to hear and decide applications for exceptions to and variances from the zoning ordinances of the municipality and to hear and decide all appeals from orders, decisions and regulations of municipal administrative officials or agencies in regard to the zoning ordinances.  The Zoning Board of Appeals shall not permit any exception or variance from the zoning ordinances unless it finds that a practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship would exist as a result of the literal application of the zoning ordinances because of some peculiarity of the property in question as distinct from the other properties in the same district.  In such cases the granting of the exception or variance must not be detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to the property in the immediate surrounding area, and must be in keeping with the general purpose, intent and objective of the municipal zoning ordinances.

Zoning Board of Appeals Meetings

Zoning Board of Appeals Members

How does the Zoning Board make a decision?

To grant a variance, the Zoning Board of Appeals has to make certain findings of fact.  These findings must be based upon the physical relationships and characteristics of the particular property and how it differs from similarly zoned properties.  Personal needs or hardships of the current owner are not necessarily a basis for granting zoning variances.  The hardship has to be unique to the property, and not the current owner.

The complete list of the factors that must be addressed can be found with the application form. A summary of these factors is:

·        A practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship exists on this particular piece of property as a result of the literal application of the zoning ordinances;

·        That the hardship exists because of some peculiarity of this property that differs from other properties with the same restrictions;

·        Granting the variance must not be detrimental to the public welfare of injurious to the property in the immediate surrounding area;

·        The variance must be in keeping the general purpose, intent and objective of the zoning requirement;

·        Financial reasons or personal hardship is not grounds for granting a variance.

Area or Use Variance?

Variance Application Forms

Variance Application Form